Posts tagged with: Verona

Istituto Acton held a private viewing and debate on The Call of the Entrepreneur in the romantic city of Verona, better known for its romantic association with Romeo and Juliet than with one of Italy’s most enterprising commercial regions.

Arranged and sponsored by the investors group – Noi Soci – of Cattolica Assicurazione, a private insurance company founded 115 years at the turn of the 19th century, the documentary was shown on April 1 to a private audience of 220 of the company’s stakeholders, colleagues and business partners – who actually showed up early – a rarity of time management and courtesy not often experienced in the southern city of Rome, where Acton’s Italian office is located.

The company’s original mission, based on protecting the private landholdings of farmers against natural disaster, was the brainchild of 34 entrepreneurs who boasted more than 14 Catholic priests in its original investment group.

When I heard this story, I had to ask the president of Cattolica Immobilare (the real estate investment firm owned entirely by Cattolica Assicurazioni), Enrico Racasi, to repeat what he had just told us.

“Few people realize this, but among the insurance company’s original founders there were actually 14 priests who were very much concerned about the survival and welfare of local enterprise”, Racasi said.

“We still commence our executive meetings with prayer and often meet for Mass beforehand … We need priests to become entrepreneurs again. Wouldn’t that be wonderful if we were all working privately together for the common good? But times have really changed!”

Debate and commentary on the film included inspiring remarks from Verona’s mayor, Flavio Tosi, a “no excuses” conservative politician from the north. Tosi said that politicians should be much less concerned about “legislating a good society” in order to “let private individuals lead the way” to work hard and improve society themselves.

“Everyone should work with a spirit of calling and moral purpose … All we (politicians) can do is encourage free enterprise among our citizenry through adequate public policies and fiscal incentives.”

One of the entrepreneurs present on the speaker panel, Giuseppe Pasini, president of Federation of the Italian Steel Companies, Federacciai, said Jimmy Lai’s story as portrayed by the documentary was most inspiring.